Bayport condos selling for under $500,000 through affordable housing program

A new 55-and-over condo community in Bayport is accepting applications from potential homebuyers as part of a homeownership program available to people who meet certain income requirements. 

Bayport Gardens, a 30-unit community of townhouse-style condos, is seeking buyers through a first-come, first-served application process run by nonprofit Long Island Housing Partnership. The roughly 1,600-square-foot condos have three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms with a one-car garage. 

The condos are priced at $494,700, according to program guidelines.

The price represents a discount from other similarly-sized units on the South Shore of Suffolk County, especially because they are new construction, said Linda Kerr, a real estate agent at Signature Premier Properties in Sayville, who is not involved in the project. 

"Everybody’s looking to live a little bit more affordably," Kerr said. People want to have more disposable income beyond just paying their bills, she added.

The condos are hitting the market at a time when for-sale options on Long Island have struggled to keep up with homebuyer demand, said James Tsunis, managing partner at the Hauppauge-based Northwind Group, which has developed hundreds of condos and rentals in Suffolk County. 

"The demand is here. People want to live here," he said. "It’s just there aren’t a lot of homes being offered for sale. When they are, they go very quickly.

The median price for a three-bedroom condo in Suffolk County was $684,900 during the six-month period through February, Newsday previously reported.

Buyers of the Bayport condos can earn no more than the area median income, which is $115,450 for an individual or $131,900 for a couple, with higher income limits set for larger households to meet federal affordability standards. They must also meet certain restrictions on household assets. For married couples, the program requires that one spouse be at least 55, while children or grandchildren living in the community with an older adult must be at least 19, according to application guidelines.

Annual taxes are about $8,600 a year and monthly common charges for costs such as landscaping, snow removal and insurance are about $565 a month, according to the application.

Amenities include a clubhouse, a fitness center and a resident’s lounge in addition to quick access to shopping via Sunrise Highway and Nicolls Road, Tsunis said. The first buyers are expected to move in by September.

Northwind has planned the condo development for more than a decade and agreed to build Bayport Gardens in conjunction with the Town of Islip’s 2012 approval of the neighboring 148-unit, market-rate Bayport Meadows community. Islip approved the Bayport Gardens plan in 2019.

"These units will help seniors who are downsizing continue to live in their communities," Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in an emailed statement to Newsday through a town spokeswoman.

Another recent condo buying opportunity run by Long Island Housing Partnership drew significant interest. A lottery last year for seven below-market condos at The Gables in Westhampton Beach drew 230 applications, the nonprofit said.

In Bayport, buyers must use the condos as their principal residence and comply with certain rules when they sell. That requirement is designed to keep the units in compliance with federal affordability standards in perpetuity. An owner must consult the nonprofit in the future on the maximum selling price, which is based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index, a common gauge of inflation, since the purchase date.

That reduces a buyer’s ability to benefit from future price appreciation the way they would with a market-rate condo purchase if home prices rise faster than prices for other goods and services.

Kerr, the agent in Sayville, said she believes some older homebuyers will prefer a lower-priced home today over the chance at appreciation in the future.

"I don’t think it’s a deterrent because I don’t think somebody that’s looking to downsize is looking to have to move again anytime soon," she said.

The new condos could benefit more than just the 55-and-over homebuyers, said James Britz, chief operating officer at Long Island Housing Partnership.

"It’s freeing up the possibility people who are aging out of their homes don’t have to deal with maintenance and upkeep of a single-family home," Britz said. "In turn, it opens up the single-family home market for people that may be looking." 

Details on the application are available online at lihp.org/project/bayport-gardens/.

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.